Kings down Rockets; Houston still alive in West

Marcus Thornton scored 21 points and DeMarcus Cousins posted 15 points and 15
rebounds for the Kings, who have won consecutive games and avoided a season
sweep to Houston. Tyreke Evans posted 18 points for the victors.

"Defense was the key. We did a good job after they made a run of not losing
our poise," Cousins said. "We are playing together and trusting one another.
We are playing to win. Marcus came in during the season and has become a big
part of our team. We have five options that we can go to at any point."

Thanks to Memphis' loss to the Clippers earlier on Tuesday, the Rockets remain
three games back of the Grizzlies for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference
with four games remaining. The Rockets loss also guaranteed the Portland
Trailblazers a berth in the playoffs.

The Kings took a 76-74 lead into the final stanza and widened their lead to 12
just over the midpoint of the fourth quarter. A Jason Thompson jumper gave
Sacramento a 94-82 lead, however, the Rockets responded with an 8-0 run to
keep the game close.

Courtney Lee and Lowry connected on consecutive three-pointers to put the
game at 94-90 with 2:19 remaining, and after Lowry was fouled while shooting a
three-pointer with 37.5 seconds remaining, he made all three from the stripe
to put cut the Kings' advantage to 98-95.

The Sacramento lead remained around three until Dalembert connected on 3-for-4
from the line in the final 11 seconds to give the Kings a 104-86 advantage.
Martin's three at the buzzer accounted for the final margin.

Houston held a 28-24 lead after one and the Kings took a 52-46 lead into the
break. The Rockets shot 55 percent from the field in the third to cut their
deficit to 76-74 entering the fourth.

"It's a tough loss. We just didn't do enough at either end of the court,"
Rockets head coach Rick Adelman said. "They had a lot of points in the paint.
We missed a lot of wide-open shots. Missed free throws. We just didn't what we
had to do at either end of the court to win it."

Game Notes

Thompson scored 14 and Beno Udrih added 10 points for the victors...Lee posted
12 points in the loss...Sacramento held a 46-43 rebounding advantage...The
Kings went 15-of-18 from the line. The Rockets went 14-of-21.